1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to lighting or lamp systems and pertains, more particularly, to a lighting system that provides for automatic relamping. The system of the present invention is in particular used for general lighting, corridor lighting, stairway lighting, auxiliary lighting, night lighting and emergency lighting.
2. Background Discussion
In lighting systems, each time that a lamp, such as a fluorescent lamp fails, it is necessary to replace the lamp. This is a time consuming, labor-intensive activity even under the best of circumstances. It is particularly troublesome when the fixture is mounted at ceiling height typical of an office building, say eight to ten feet above the floor. Under these circumstances the relamping cost is typically 70% labor and 30% lamps.
However, when the mounting height of the fixture is greater than this, say 20 feet up to 80 feet or more above the floor, then the labor can become as high as 95% of the cost of relamping. For example, manufacturing buildings, warehouses, auditoriums, theaters, churches, gymnasiums, indoor swimming pools and other sports arenas, atriums, or, in factories where machinery and equipment interfere with access to lighting fixtures--these are all representative of difficult relamping conditions.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved lighting system in which relamping occurs automatically, thus essentially eliminating the labor-intensive activities previously referred to.